Membership Reaches Highest Point Since 2002

At the end of last year, APA membership reached its highest point since 2002 and now has over 37,000 members.

The biggest gain came in the last four years when APA added more than 3,238 new members, a 9.6 percent increase between 2013 and 2016, according to statistics from the APA Membership Department. All segments have seen this growth including medical students, residents, early career psychiatrists, general members, and members of minority and underrepresented groups.

APA leaders said that the membership high is the result of a multiprong strategy to build member satisfaction and a heightened profile in the media, in the public eye, and on Capitol Hill.

“This remarkable organizational achievement is the result of a focus by leadership and APA staff on delivering value to our members, creating an environment of teamwork and cross-functional work, and forging new resources to attract new members and retain existing ones,” said APA President Maria A. Oquendo, M.D., Ph.D. “We can proudly say that APA is the world’s largest psychiatric professional organization.”

APA CEO and Medical Director Saul Levin, M.D., M.P.A., emphasized that recent membership efforts to improve member services and benefits build on each other, creating a momentum in that new members attract more new members. These efforts have included creation of the new online Learning Center, a totally redesigned and rebuilt website based on member input, a new logo to heighten recognition of the organization as representing medical doctors who care for people with mental illnesses, and more than 100 new members-only resources and educational courses. APA has also recently updated its association management system to a Salesforce-based platform to provide a better experience for members, particularly online.

“The Board, Assembly, and district branches have been enormously supportive of this effort,” Levin said. “I also want to thank new and long-time members who have recognized the changes we’ve made and have reached out to colleagues who left the fold and helped to bring them back. Finally, I want to spread the word to psychiatrists whose membership has languished that there are no back dues owed for APA and 71 of the district branches linked to APA through centralized billing. We want you to be a part of our future and amplify the voice of the profession by joining us.”

The membership effort has included multiple initiatives. Among them:

Looking to the future, APA is now developing a clinical data registry to help psychiatrists meet MOC requirements as well as the new Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) reporting requirements that went into effect at the start of this year. The registry, named PsychPRO, is an APA member benefit. “APA has a responsibility to help our members thrive by achieving bonuses and avoiding penalties associated with the new requirements,” Levin said (see page 11).

A growing membership translates into results on Capitol Hill. In efforts to win passage of the 21st Century Cures Act, more than 1,800 members sent emails or made phone calls to their members of Congress, and APA led a coalition of over 20 national organizations. After the bill passed with rare bipartisan support, Oquendo was invited to watch President Obama sign the landmark legislation into law (Psychiatric News, January 6).

Renȳe Binder, M.D., who helped lead the new membership effort during her presidency, said APA’s membership numbers serve as important leverage in advocacy. “The first question I hear on Capitol Hill is, How many members does APA represent?” she said. “Consequently, the total membership of the organization, and the fact we are growing, sends a strong message.” ■